Democrats in ad ask Healey to remove it
They praised her but back Patrick
A quartet of Democratic lawmakers featured in the latest television commercial of Republican gubernatorial nominee Kerry Healey called on the lieutenant governor yesterday to remove the ad, saying it gave the false impression that they had endorsed her.
The ad shows the lawmakers at a bill-signing ceremony last month, during which they heaped praise on Healey for helping to pass legislation extending the statute of limitations on sex crimes. State Senator Steven A. Baddour of Methuen , whom the ad captures declaring that Healey ``deserves a great deal of admiration and respect," said yesterday that he and his colleagues strongly support Deval L. Patrick in the Nov. 7 election.
``It's been twisted to appear as though I am endorsing Kerry Healey, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth," Baddour said at a news conference at the Patrick headquarters in Charlestown yesterday. He was flanked by Democratic legislators who insisted that comments they had made about Patrick were misinterpreted by the Healey campaign and the media.
The Healey campaign, which is working to overcome a huge deficit in the polls and high negative ratings, refused to take the ad off the air. A Globe poll published yesterday showed Healey trailing Patrick by 25 points. The poll also suggested that 42 percent of respondents viewed Healey unfavorably, compared with 40 percent who viewed her favorably. The ad, which began running Saturday, is the only commercial the Healey campaign is airing this week.
``I think that the ad credits the lieutenant governor for working to push through tough sex offender legislation that's going to protect victims," said Tim O'Brien , Healey's campaign manager. ``And again today, we hear from them that she should get a lot of credit for that. So I'm still unsure of what their problem is."
Even as they reiterated their support for Patrick, Democrats who spoke at yesterday's news conference -- Baddour, state Representatives Eugene L. O'Flaherty of Chelsea, Peter J. Koutoujian of Waltham, and James Vallee of Franklin -- reaffirmed their praise for the lieutenant governor's work on the sex offender bill.
``It's no secret that, yes, she has worked with us," O'Flaherty said. ``That's clear, and her record speaks for itself. My only problem is the inference that is created with Democratic state legislators actually advocating her candidacy for governor -- that is incorrect."
Baddour reiterated his belief that the bill would not have passed without Healey's urging, despite a state Democratic Party statement issued yesterday saying the ad gave her ``undue credit."
The Democrats expressed shock that warm words for Healey had been used against their nominee -- even though the bill-signing ceremony for the sex offender legislation was one of the few occasions when Governor Mitt Romney permitted Healey to sign important legislation in public, and despite the fact that it was held just two days after the Democratic primary election.
``I've been at a number of press conferences with the governor and the lieutenant governor where I've given praise . . . to a host of different people," Baddour said. ``And never once have those statements been used in a political ad."
The most prominent Democrat featured in the Healey ad, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, did not appear at yesterday's news conference. The ad has a clip from a primary debate in which Reilly characterizes Patrick as soft on crime and intent on raising taxes.
Cyndi Roy , a spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, said Reilly had been invited to the news conference but said he could not attend. She said he did not say why. Two former spokesmen for the Reilly campaign did not return phone calls yesterday afternoon, but Roy noted that Reilly has endorsed Patrick and that many of his former supporters are helping Patrick's campaign.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley , another Democrat who unwittingly played a starring role in the Healey ad, also was unable to attend yesterday's news conference. Conley put out a news release reaffirming his support for Patrick but also saying that ``giving credit where it is due is only right."
Conley and three of the Democrats at the news conference yesterday supported Reilly in the primary; Vallee supported Gabrieli. At the news conference yesterday, the Democrats tried to play down remarks made at the bill-signing ceremony about Patrick . O'Flaherty had said then that Patrick had to ``get rid of the notion that has been percolating out there that he is a liberal, left-leaning individual that will bring Massachusetts back to what some have referred to as the Mike Dukakis era."
Yesterday, O'Flaherty said his words were ``intended to be a positive recommendation just from a single citizen, a single individual that happened also to be a state legislator, and that is that he needs to have that discussion with those elements of our party, which I believe he is doing."
Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.
(Correction: Because of reporting errors, a Page One story yesterday about the campaign for governor incorrectly described the forum in which Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly made remarks that are featured in an ad for Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. Reilly made the comments Sept. 14 on ``Greater Boston" on WGBH-TV. Also, the story incorrectly stated that Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley endorsed Reilly in the Democratic primary. Conley remained neutral in the primary.) 